


Last Chance

by MelyndaR



Series: My Ingenious Family series [10]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-04
Packaged: 2018-03-05 11:52:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 4,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3119132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelyndaR/pseuds/MelyndaR
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A case in Curtis's home town leads to a very interesting week as his time with the team comes to an end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

March 26, 2012

"Good morning, Caleb." Leah Prentiss- Reid greeted Caleb Curtis, stand-in TA for Agent Hotchner's team, from the doorway of the lair. "You look a bit troubled. Anything I could help with?"

"Morning. And I don't think so, thanks though."

Leah nodded. "Well, we have a case."

Caleb left his chair and the lair and followed Leah to the briefing room.

He was "troubled". This was his last week working with this team before Garcia came back and he was sent to Crimes against Children. After this week he had no idea when he would see these people again, specifically JJ. He and JJ had agreed to a relationship, but he knew how crazy their lives were about to get. What he didn't know was when they would have time for each other. He didn't know if this relationship was really something worth trying, not because of anything about JJ, but because their schedules were so impossible.

It hurt to think about.

Caleb took his seat in the briefing room between JJ and Morgan as Leah began the debriefing.

"Okay, laddies and girlies, as your marvelous tablets will tell you, we are headed to Hebron, Texas." The media liaison said.

Caleb stopped breathing for a moment. "Why?" he croaked.

"Someone has taken it upon themselves to try and take out the Native-American population therein. Hey, are you all right? You're awfully pale."

"Hebron, uh, that's my home-town."

"Come with us then." Hotch spoke up.

Caleb nodded and Hotch told Leah to continue.

"All are male, Native-American, around thirty. There has been a murder every other night for a week, the first body was discovered on the twentieth, which means that we have until tonight to find this guy before he strikes again. There are as of now three bodies, Jake Wilson, Simon Brown, and Jason Clark."

"We can finish debriefing on the plane." Hotch said "Wheels up in twenty."

On the plane, Caleb asked Leah, "Have you found us a place to stay yet?"

"Not yet."

Caleb said, "I know a real nice B and B I can hook us up at."

"Sure. Thanks."

"No problem." Caleb hit a speed-dial on his cellphone. "Hi, Mama. It's Caleb."


	2. Chapter 2

It was over twenty-four hours later that the team finally drove into the drive of the Curtis's B&B. They were all tired and discouraged. They hadn't found the man and he had struck again, killing another man, Lester Martin. JJ felt like crying on days like this.

Caleb was the first out of the SUVs and a young woman in her late teens was upon him, hugging him almost before he left the vehicle.

JJ got out in time to hear him say, "Hey, Lexi. How you doing?"

"Great now."

Lexi looked over Caleb's shoulder to the team, which had all gathered around JJ.

"It's late." A woman, presumably Caleb's mother, said from the porch of the ranch house. "Why don't y'all come on in. Everybody's here. We've been waiting for our boy."

Caleb slipped his arm around JJ's waist as they headed toward the house, earning an arched eyebrow from his mother.

"Hi, Mama." He kissed his mother on the forehead, giving her a squeeze.

Lexi, his little sister, claimed his other side and they stepped through the doorway. Four men, two woman and five kids all sat in a living room, talking. They looked as if they had been prepared to wait up all night if necessary, save for the two youngest kids, both under two, who were all ready sacked out.

Caleb's dad came over and shook his hand. Then Caleb's twin brother, that would be Joshua, did the same. Next came the nieces and nephews: Lucas, Matt, and Lydia belonged to Joshua and his wife, Marissa, Alexia and Susan, the youngest, were twins belonging to Caleb's brother, Russell and his wife Carrie. Russell's twin brother, Ryder, came last.

Once everyone had gotten a chance at Caleb, Caleb introduced them all to the team, pausing when he got to JJ.

"This is Jen. Well… she 's just JJ to her friends. Jennifer Jareau actually."

"You called her Jen." Carrie said pointedly.

"It's just what I call her." Caleb shrugged it off.

Susie, his mother, was came to Caleb's rescue. "Have y'all eaten yet?"

"No." I told them to wait 'til we got here." Caleb said.

"Good. You boys," she addressed her three other sons. "Take the agents bags out to the guesthouses."

The boys gathered the bags, leaving JJ's on the floor where she'd left it.

"You forgot one." Susie pointed out.

"She's sleeping with Caleb." Ryder purred.

Susie turned back to the agents, saying to Caleb. "I made biscuits and chocolate syrup just for y'all."

JJ drew a blank. What?

Caleb burst out laughing looking at them all. Lexi's eyes widened. "Oh word the preacher uses, y'all ain't had 'em before?"

Every agent shook their heads.

"Have you never had biscuits and chocolate syrup, Hon?" Susie asked JJ.

"No, ma'am."

"Well you just sit right down here." Susie guided her to the head of the table and sat her down. She was on display now. "We'll fix that real quick. The rest of y'all take a seat." They obeyed the woman. "Mari, Carrie, get our guests some food. Caleb can't have a girlfriend who's never had biscuits and chocolate syrup."

Caleb shot JJ an apologetic look from her right side as Lexi plopped down on her right.

"How long y'all been together?" Lexi asked.

"Two months." JJ answered, not showing how uncomfortable she was in this situation.

"You got kids?"

"A three-year-old, Henry." Interrogation it was.

"You been married?"

"No."

"You live with Caleb?"

After two months? "No."

"Does Danny like you?"

"I think so."

"Good. I trust his judgment."

"He's a good kid."

"Here you go." Marissa set a plate down in front of JJ. "Don't let them intimidate you Agent Jareau. Their bark is worse than their bite."

JJ smiled gratefully up at her. Her accent was decidedly not from the south. They'd put her through this too, then.

If Marissa could survive this tight-knit clan, so could she.


	3. Chapter 3

Right after their meal, all the agents but Jen went to the cabins Mama and Dad had set aside for them. Joshua and Russell rounded up their crews and headed to their own homes.

Seeing that he was about to fall asleep on his feet, Mama ordered him to bed. "Agent Jareau, too."

He went to get Jen from the living room and relay the message. He peeked in to see Lexi listening to her iPod and doing one of her online college classes for veterinary school. His dad sat in his recliner, finishing his day the way he had for as long as Caleb could remember: reading the daily newspaper.

And Jen, his Jen, was curled up on the couch asleep. He smiled gently and picked her up, careful not to wake her.

"Oh." Mama said, as he came through the kitchen with his surprisingly slight sleeping beauty.

She hurried ahead of him and pulled down the covers in the bed in the room she had assigned them. A bunk bed. Yeah, that was his mama all right. Sleeping with someone if you weren't married to them meant a bunk bed. And that was fine with him. He'd only make that mistake once, hang Mia.

He laid Jen down and pulled the cover over her. When he had unbent, Mama whispered to him, "You've got a good thing going here, son."

He smiled, watching the gentle rising and falling of Jen's chest. "I know I do, Mama. I know."


	4. Chapter 4

"There's been a report of a man with a gun walking into a convenience store about a mile from here." Detective Lock said the next evening, coming over to the table where JJ and Leah were puzzling over their clues.

The others were out following leads before they called it a night.

"Could that have anything to do with us?" JJ asked.

"There's a Native-American man fitting the victimology and a teenage girl inside."

"But he struck last night." Leah said. "We should have another day."

"We profiled that he would devolve fast. The last murder was sloppy. This fits the profile." JJ started running towards the door with Leah and Detective Lock right behind her. "This could be our guy."

At the store, JJ took the lead. It wasn't difficult to see what was going on inside through the windows. The man with the gun was standing in the middle of the room with his back to them. He was holding the gun to the teen. She had interrupted the unsub before he could get to his victim.

JJ walked deftly through the back door of the store with her gun poised before her. "Adam Smithson? FBI."

Adam swung around and, though he wore a mask, JJ got her first good look at the teenager. Lexi? Oh, no. This was not going to happen.

"Adam, drop the gun." JJ kept her voice calm, almost soothing.

"I'll shoot her! I will! You know I will!"

"You don't want to do that, Adam. She has a family. What about your family, Adam?" Seeing the indecision in his stance, she went with it. "Do you want your son to see you on TV in handcuffs? Or even worse? If you put the gun down and let the girl go, I can make sure that doesn't happen." His hold on the gun, and Lexi, loosened. "All you have to do is hand over the gun and girl. Just give me the gun. Yes, good."

She took the gun from his outstretched hand as Lexi ran from the store, Adam's intended victim with her. JJ cuffed Smithson and handed him off to Lock outside before going over to Lexi who was clinging to the man she'd been held with.

"Tucker Greywolf." Leah murmured. "Lexi's boyfriend."

Oh.

"Lexi, what happened?" JJ asked soothingly, laying a hand on the teen's back.

"I didn't want Tucker coming home alone so I came to drive him home." Lexi's tears were slowing down. "I walked in and that man, Adam Smithson, had his gun out. I freaked and he grabbed me. I'm okay though."

"Are you sure?" Tucker asked.

Lexi nodded, swallowing and smiling a little. "Can – Can I just go home now."

"Yeah, sure, Honey. I'll drive you." JJ guided her to the SUV. "Are you all right, Mr. Greywolf? Do you want me to take you to your place?"

"I'd rather stay with Lexi."

"Of course. Come on."

Leah slid into shotgun and the four headed back to the B&B, leaving Smithson in the hands of Detective Lock. Once in the SUV, Leah called Hotch and told him that they had gotten their unsub. The others met them at the B&B.

Getting out of the vehicle, JJ saw too late a big St. Bernard running towards her, barking noisily.

"No, Bozo!" Lexi called out. "You stop that!"

The dog skidded to a stop at Lexi's feet, licking her hand in apology. He then followed at her side as they walked up the drive.

"You don't like the dog?" JJ asked, trying to give Lexi something to think about besides the feeling of Smithson's gun against her throat.

"I like him a lot. Why?"

"Well, you called him Bozo."

"That's Josh's fault. He didn't like him when we first got him, so he called him Bozo all the time. Soon he started answering to it and wouldn't come to anything else. It just kinda stuck."

JJ laughed. She was inwardly thrilled when Lexi did too.

 


	5. Chapter 5

That evening as Caleb slid under the covers of the top bunk, he breached the subject that had been bugging him since they'd gotten back to the house. Jen flipped off the light and he heard her pad across the room and crawl in bed.

Then he asked the ceiling, "Do you want to tell me what happened to Lexi? She looked like she'd been crying. She never cries, Jen, never. Not since grade school."

"You'll have to ask her." Came Jen's reply.

"But I asked you."

"It's her decision to tell you or not to."

"Do you want to know what I think?" Caleb asked quietly.

"What?"

"I think something happened to Tucker."

"It's their decision, Caleb, not mine."

"So now it's 'their'? I'm right, aren't I? Smithson went after Tucker and Lexi heard about it."

"Please leave it alone. I can't tell you if they don't want you to know. That's the rule, BAU rules."

He remained silent after that.

"Good night, Caleb." She made it sound like a peace offering for being so peevish.

"Good night, Jen. I love you."

"I love you, too."

"I know you do."


	6. Chapter 6

JJ came out of the hallway entering into the living/dining room area the next morning with her hair in a swinging ponytail and her go-bag in her hand, ready to get back on the plane and head home.

"You might as well put that back." Caleb murmured near her ear, motioning to her go-bag. "Mama and Hotch have been at it for five minutes, and he's about to give in."

"Over what?"

"Mama wants us to stay a while yet."

"How long's a while?"

"Don't know. She's talking about horseback riding and swimming in the pond."

"I can't picture Hotch anywhere near any crawfish holes." JJ laughed.

"I don't know. This place can go a long way towards relaxing you."

"That relaxed though?"

Caleb didn't have a chance to answer before Hotch said to the team, "We'll head back Sunday night. There's apparently an investigation pending." He looked directly at JJ.

JJ felt her anxiety returning. A screen door slammed behind Hotch and Marissa entered the house, flipping Hotch in the back of the head.

His eyes widened in surprise and he turned to look at her. She glared back up at him. Caleb smirked and the rest of the team watched in surprise.

"It would seem you have a champion, JJ." Hotch said, still watching Marissa.

"So it would appear." Marissa answered calmly. The silence remained for a second longer before Marissa said, "My daddy was a prosecutor, Agent Hotchner. You don't scare me."

Hotch smiled. "You remind me of my daughter just now."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"What do y'all want to start with?" Ryder asked the team.

"Jen and I are going riding." Caleb declared. "Anyone want to come with us?"

"No." Lexi spoke up. "Y'all go off by yourselves."

"Since when are you a matchmaker?" Ryder asked. "I thought you were our lead investigator."

"She has my vote. She's great, awesome, perfect for him." She put a hand on JJ's shoulder and her other on Caleb's. "Go! Now!"

Much later, Caleb and JJ dismounted by a stream to let their geldings drink from it. JJ took a deep breath, remembering the way her hair had streamed back from her face as they'd galloped the horses over the plain.

"That was amazing!" she breathed.

"I thought you said you'd ridden before." Caleb answered.

"I have, just nothing like that. I took lessons as a kid."

"English?"

"Yeah."

"According to Ryder, you haven't ridden until you've ridden western."

"I figured as much."

They bantered and talked for a while when JJ felt a drop of water on her wrist. Then a quick second. Suddenly it was raining on them.

They jumped up and headed for their horses.

"Hey, hold on." Caleb said, even as JJ grasped her horse's reins.

"What?"

Caleb kissed her. Completely spontaneous and pointless - and absolutely rapturous. Then he went right on to his horse.

Once in the barn back at the ranch, she asked him, "What was that kiss for?"

"Isn't that one of the things that was on that list that Desiree gave you about the perfect guy? 'Kiss her in the pouring rain'?"

"I already know you're my perfect guy, Caleb."

When they got inside the house, Lexi met them in the kitchen with a couple towels to dry off with. JJ gratefully took the towel and dried off her face and arms. Lexi turned to watch the news on the ancient TV setting on the counter. JJ moved the towel to dry her hair.

Lexi nodded toward the TV, saying, "I thought you said you wouldn't let that get on TV."

JJ glanced at the piece they were running on Smithson before answering, "I said I  _could_ , not that I  _would_."

Lexi smiled at her. Ryder poked his head in and asked, "You didn't check on the barn animals by chance, did you?"

Both Lexi and Caleb shook their heads.

"I'll do it." Lexi volunteered.

"I'll help you Caleb said, following her back out into the rain.


	7. Chapter 7

Caleb's head was swimming as he filled a hay net in the barn. Beside him, his little sister filled a bucket with grain.

"You should probably pull your hair down before we leave." He suggested solemnly.

"Why? I always have it pulled back."

"You can see the bruise from the gun." He'd only noticed it in the kitchen just now.

Her hand flew to her neck, covering the small, round bruise. "Did JJ tell you?"

"No. I figured it out myself. Besides, how else could you know what Jen told Smithson?"

"He had a gun to Tuck. I didn't stop to think. I've never been that scared in my life. I thought I was gonna lose him right before my eyes, Caleb." She paused to swallow her tears and collect her thoughts before continuing in a quiet whisper, "He proposed the day before you guys got here."

"Lexi, that's great!" he paused. "You did say 'yes', didn't you?"

"Of course!"

"That's great, Lex, I'm real happy for y'all."

Lexi smiled. "We're gonna tell Mom and Daddy tomorrow night. Daddy already guessed though. He won't quit bugging me about it. Do you think somebody could duct tape his mouth for me?"

"You don't mean that."

"Nah."

Caleb was much happier when he reentered the house with Lexi. His mood lifted even more when he saw that a video chat had been set up by Penelope, who was keeping Jack, Henry, and Danny while the others were in Hebron, and Leah. It looked like Jen was getting ready to sit down with the three-year-olds.

"Can I join you?" Caleb asked, sitting in the chair beside Jen.

"Daddy!" both boys cried simultaneously.

Caleb saw his mother pause in folding a load of towels upon hearing Henry out of the corner of his eye. He smiled at the boys, his boys.

"Hi guys! What have you been doing today?"


	8. Chapter 8

The next night, when Tucker Greywolf came to eat dinner with the people there, Caleb started smiling and didn't stop. Not through the meal and not when everyone moved into the living room to talk. When Lexi stepped into the room with her mother after cleaning up the kitchen, she looked thrilled over something as well.

Anticipation hummed between the two siblings and Mr. Greywolf. Caleb was waiting for one or both of them to do something.

Lexi disappeared down the hall into her bedroom and soon reappeared, her hands clasped behind her back. She was smiling brilliantly. Tucked got up and slipped an arm around her shulders.

Then it clicked in JJ's mind. She couldn't help but smile.

"Guess what y'all are gonna be doing this fall?" Lexi piped up.

"Does this include the team too?" JJ asked.

"Of course. I owe you one. Or a few."

"We owe you." Tucker corrected, his smile wavering for a second.

"Our schedules are pretty frantic." JJ warned.

"I haven't even said what it is yet!" Lexi exclaimed.

"Profilers, Lex." Caleb explained.

"Well, you can sure tell me." Mrs. Curtis said.

Other family members nodded in agreement.

"Tucker and I are getting married!" Lexi exclaimed.

JJ watched, grinning as the room seemingly exploded with happiness.

A minute later, Joshua came and sat across from JJ and Caleb.

He said to Caleb, "Now it's up to you."

"What about Ryder?" Caleb asked.

"I'll eat my hat if that boy ever settles down." Came Joshua's wry answer.

Caleb laughed.

From there on out the days past quickly, and, at times, quietly. Soon Sunday morning was upon them. At Mrs. Curtis's request, the entire team loaded into the van for the Sunday morning church service at the local Baptist church. Later in the day, as one final act of vacation, Lexi purposed going swimming in the lake. To JJ's pleasant surprise, all the team soon agreed, even Morgan.

So they dug around for the appropriate clothing and made it to the lake around eleven a.m., picnic baskets in hand. Carrie and the twins and Marissa, Lydia, and Lucas came with them, "them" being the team, Lexi, and Ryder.

By the time JJ's turn came to dive in, the lake was full of people. JJ opted to sit and watch.

"Jen!" Caleb called out after about twenty minutes. "Come get in. Water's great."

"No, thanks."

He swam over to stand in front of her and said, "Please?"

"No."

"Come on." He coaxed. "I'll look like a horrible host if you don't."

"Oh, you're fine."

"If you're not going to get in, help me out."

He lifted his hand towards her and she grabbed it. She didn't hear Spence trying to warn her, saying, "J-", before Caleb had already pulled her forward into the lake. Luke-warm water rushed to meet her.

When she popped back out, sputtering, she then heard Spence finish, "-J."

"Now I'm all wet!" she stated the obvious.

"You're pretty." Caleb returned, laughing.

She slapped him on the arm. He just laughed all the harder. She couldn't help but join in, he just had that sort of laugh.

A while later he said, "I wasn't just trying to smooth you over, you know, saying you're pretty. I really meant that. I thought so the first time I saw you on New Year's Eve." He took a step closer.

JJ felt a blush creep up her cheeks. "Thank you."

"Any time."

Another step. Then he kissed her. Once again, no reason, completely spontaneous and pointless - and still absolutely rapturous.


	9. Chapter 9

When they broke away she asked, "What is it about you, water, and kissing?"

He shrugged. "Your hair gets this really great color. And there's no possible way to look like dignified Agent Jareau when you're covered in water with your clothes sticking to you. You're just Jen then. I like just Jen."

She put her head on his chest, neither really caring that people were watching. A song came to mind and he murmured part of the chorus into Jen's hair. "Gimme that girl with her hair in a mess Sleepy little smile with her head on my chest That's the you that I like best. Gimme that girl. Gimme that girl lovin' up on me In an old t-shirt and a pair of jeans. That's the you I wanna see. Gimme that girl."

She smiled and kissed him. And that's when the thought struck that today was the last day he knew for sure he had with her.

Later in that day, Caleb wandered into the bedroom he had shared with Jen. She was checking again to make sure she had everything packed, dancing around the room. Again lyrics from the same song came to mind.

"Gimme a girl that's beautiful  
Without a trace of makeup on  
Barefoot in the kitchen,  
singing her favorite song  
Dancin' aroun' like a fool  
Starin' in her own little show  
Gimme the girl that the rest of the world  
ain't lucky enough to know."

He was lucky indeed to have her, he thought, watching her. But the thought remained that he could still lose her if he didn't act quickly, preferably before boarding the jet.

This prompted him to say, "Are you ready?" The means to an end.

"Yes."

"Would you like to go for a walk? We have a few minutes yet before we leave."

"All right, as long as you don't plan on dropping me into the lake again."

"No lake." Caleb promised with a smile. "Just talking."

"That sounds nice."

She pulled on a pair of flats and walked out the doorway past him. He bit his lip, grabbed a small box from his go-bag ( _is it sad that that's where I keep it?_ ), and followed after her.

Once out of earshot of the house, he mustered up his courage and said, "So, Jen?"

"Hm?"

"Where do we go from here?" He repeated his thoughts from earlier that week to her, and then took a deep breath, ending, "Would it be easier to go our separate ways?" He wasn't about to do this if she had any doubts about their relationship.

"Undoubtedly."

He stopped walking, icy fear winding its way through him. He hadn't known her long, but life without her was a horrible, awful thought that he couldn't bear.

"But easier isn't always better." She finished with a smile. "If we break up, you have to do it, because I won't. Ever."

"Me neither. Actually," He dug out the little box out from his back pocket. "I got this just before we came here."

Jen's eyes widened, snapping from the open box back to his face. "For me?"

He nodded. "Of course. Who else would I have bought it for?" They stood in silence for a few seconds before he requested, "Say something, Jen."

"Yes. I say yes."

He whooped and she burst out laughing. He took the ring out of the box and slipped it carefully onto her fourth finger. Then they ran back towards the B&B.

When the B&B came back into view the team and the Curtis clan was all gathered around the SUVs. The team was preparing to go to the jet.

Once they were in hearing range, Caleb called out to his brother, "Hey, Ryder, It's up to you now!"


End file.
